Scandal in Serie A: Juventus are deducted 15 points

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For Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri and his team, things will be tight in the Italian championship

Photo: Armando Franca/AP

Juventus Turin wants to take action against the severe point deduction that the Italian association court imposed on the record champions for accounting fraud.

As the club announced on Saturday night, it would appeal to the highest sports court of the Italian Olympic Committee Coni.

The Turiners had 15 points in the current Serie A deleted on Friday.

Juve slip from third to tenth place and are now 25 points adrift of leaders Napoli and 12 points adrift of the Champions League places.

The club's lawyers spoke of a "blatant injustice" - especially because all the other clubs involved in the cause and their officials were acquitted.

The Gazzetta dello Sport wrote of an “earthquake in the championship”.

The Turin sports newspaper "Tuttosport" wrote an outraged headline on Saturday: "The injustice will be satisfied!

Incredible!".

The appeals court of the FIGC association had found it proven that Juve attributed fictitious market values ​​to its players for years and noted them in the books.

In the years 2018, 2019 and 2020 alone, the club's balance sheet is said to have been glossed over by more than 100 million euros.

The sports court had already acquitted Juve and the other clubs because of the allegations - but the proceedings were resumed due to new findings.

Penalty cannot be canceled despite an objection

Juventus has one month after receipt of the verdict to lodge an appeal with the Coni's highest sports court.

However, this cannot cancel the penalty or reduce the point deduction, but only return the case to the FIGC court if procedural errors are found.

In addition to the club, a number of former club bosses and a current top official were also punished.

Ex-President Andrea Agnelli, for example, was banned from any activity in Italian football for two years and former Vice-President Pavel Nedved for eight months.

The two had recently resigned.

The sports coordinator Federico Cherubini, who is still active, was handed a 16-month ban.

see/dpa